Kensington will focus on existing customers and asset management in 2009 and it announced at the end of November that 60 members of staff were set to be made redundant, although 20 new roles were also being created.

As a result Giles says now is the right moment to say goodbye to Kensington and start looking for a new challenge elsewhere.

He says: “I have had a great time at Kensington, experiencing the buoyant market of 2006, the excitement of the sale to Investec in 2007 and the manychallenges of reputational management in 2008.

“I will really miss my Kensington colleagues and all the great people with whom I have had the pleasure of working over the last 3 years.”

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